Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and several former European leaders attended a conference on religion in Tehran on Monday, offering what some saw as a gesture of support for the moderate opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosting the gathering.

Mohammad Khatami, the moderate former Iranian president who hosted the event, has stepped up his criticism of Ahmadinejad in recent months and his Iranian supporters are pressing him to challenge the hard-line president, hoping a victory will end the country’s international isolation. He has said he hasn’t yet decided whether to run in the elections next June.

Former Irish president, Mary Robinson, and former prime ministers of Italy and France, Romano Prodi and Lionel Jospin, are also attending the conference, entitled “Conference on Religion in the Modern World.”

However, the soft-spoken critic Khatami reacted angrily when asked whether the high-profile visitors at the conference reflected a backing for his possible bid for the presidency.

“This conference has nothing to do with presidential elections,” Khatami chided reporters. “Don’t undermine this conference by such speculations.”

Under Ahmadinejad, Iran has experienced international isolation, skyrocketing prices and even a U.S. and Israeli threat of military strike over its refusal to halt the controversial uranium enrichment that the West fears masks a nuclear weapons pursuit.

Amid the turmoil, Khatami, despite his “has-been” image, is seen by many moderates and reformers as Iran’s “savior” from the current predicament.

“Our homeland Iran is in danger. Khatami has to run in the upcoming elections to save Iran from catastrophe and destruction,” said prominent reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh.

Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister, said that Iran under a continued Ahmadinejad leadership will turn into a new Iraq and Afghanistan.

If Khatami is elected, it will “turn into a model for others to follow,” he added.

“The current situation in Iran has made it difficult for Khatami to reject demands to run in the upcoming elections. His language also shows that he is thinking about it more seriously than before,” Tajzadeh said.

Iran’s former vice president, Majid Ansari, said the recent developments indicate Khatami is now more likely to challenge Ahmadinejad.

“It is now more likely that Khatami will run for president next year,” Ansari told The Associated Press.

Registration for the June 12 balloting will be held next April.

Some of the other prominent names at the venue included former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, Sri Lankan ex-president Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sudan’s former prime minister Sadeq al-Mahdi and former UNESCO director general Federico Mayor.

Khatami is hosting the two-day conference, which ends Tuesday, as the head of the International Institute of Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations. It explores religious and cultural concepts and rejects extremism.

Following the conference, Annan and several others among the visiting dignitaries will make a trip on Tuesday evening and Wednesday to Yazd, Khatami’s birthplace.